Last rites of Matua matriarch to be held today with full state honours

Kolkata: The last rites of Matua community matriarch Binapani Devi, popularly known as 'Boroma' will take place at Thakurnagar in North 24-Parganas, the headquarter of the All India Matua Mahasangha, on Thursday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Cabinet colleagues including Jyotipriya Mallick will be present during the cremation to supervise the entire procedure. Soon after Boroma's death was declared, Banerjee announced that her last rites would be performed with full state honour.

Banerjee on Tuesday condoled the death saying that it was a personal loss to her. Binapani Devi was like a father figure to her and she had been personally attached to the Matua matriarch for many years, she stated during her visit to SSKM Hospital on Tuesday. The hearse carrying the mortal remains of Binapani Devi reached Thakurnagar at around 11 am on Wednesday amidst tight security. Police escorted the hearse all the way to her native place from SSKM where she had been under treatment for the last couple of days.

Binapani Devi died of a multi-organ failure at the age of 102 at SSKM Hospital on Tuesday evening after a prolonged illness from various age-related ailments.

Thousands of devotes and Matua community members started thronging the Matua headquarter from early Wednesday morning. They waited on both sides of small lanes leading to Boroma's house to have a last glimpse of her.

Many others congregated outside the house to pay their tribute to her. Initially, there was confusion among the two groups within the community over the date of the cremation. Finally, it was decided by the leaders of the All India Matua Mahasangha that the mortal remains will be kept at the house till Thursday so that people from different parts of the country can reach the place to pay their last tribute.

The health condition of Binapani Devi deteriorated a few days ago. She had been shifted to SSKM Hospital from Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital (JNMH) in Kalyani on Sunday evening. Despite the best efforts by the doctors at SSKM, Boroma succumbed to her ailment on Tuesday evening.

Boroma was the chief advisor of the Mahasangha, which is considered Bengal's second most influential Scheduled Caste community comprising primarily low-caste Hindu refugees from Bangladesh. It has over one crore members spread over various southern Bengal districts, especially the North 24-Parganas.